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Norway Delivers $100 million to Brazil Rainforest Fund |
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Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will travel to Brazil next week to make good on his country’s $100 million donation to Brazil’s Rainforest fund. Though the contribution represents only a small drop in a bucket that’s meant to hold $21 billion, it’s yet another testament to Norway’s quiet global leadership. Some stats:
- Donated £50 million to the Congo Basin Forest Fund.
- Spending $500 million a year to prevent deforestation in developing countries.
- Actively working to become the “apex nation” of renewable energy development.
- Overfulfilling its Kyoto Protocol requirements by 10%, with the aim of carbon neutrality by 2050.
- Year-in, year-out, at or near the top of the OECD’s foreign aid list.
Norway’s latest bit of greenery will go towards, ostensibly, forest preservation, scientific research and sustainable development. Whether or not Brazil will put said funds to said use is another matter. Some environmental groups are concerned that the fund is first and foremost an economic-development vehicle.
These concerns are overblown. If Norway’s donation yields no visible results, the fund is destined to fail, and emerging Brazil will lose credibility in the global community. That serves no one. If, on the other hand, it’s judiciously used, Norway will likely make the donation a yearly event. Any other developed country worth its salt will follow suit.
